Smoked Tri Tip

Smoked tri tip is one amazing way to feed a crowd some wonderful steak without breaking the bank. With traditional steak prices getting closer and closer to requiring a credit check to buy a half dozen steaks, this is one fantastic alternative. But first, what is a tri tip?

It’s a beef roast that is part of the bottom sirloin and is triangular shaped. A tri tip roast generally runs about 1.5 – 2.5 pounds. As you can see here the cut is indeed triangular, which is where it gets its name. It has three tips thus a tri tip:

Some are thinking that sirloin is pretty terrible steak compared to say a NY strip or rib eye. Normally I would agree but there’s something about it being in a roast, grilled whole and then sliced that makes it much more tender and flavorful than a typical sirloin steak. I would put some thin sliced tri tip up against NY strip or rib eye and at a considerable discount.

For this recipe – smoked tri tip – I’m going simple: a rub and reverse sear is all it really needs. Why not go with the flame sear first like in the Santa Maria style? Because then the tri tip steak won’t take on the smoke flavor. By smoking first and then flame searing, and flame searing I WILL, I get the best of both worlds.

Smoked Tri Tip Ingredients:

1 Tri tip roast
Coarse salt
Your favorite BBQ Rub

There was some hard fat on the flat side of the tri tip that I trimmed away before seasoning. You can leave it there, but removing it is healthier than leaving it.

Hit the tri tip on both sides with a heavy dose of coarse salt and then the rub:

Really cake that rub on the steak roast. With a traditional steak cut, I would dust it on to let the flavor of the meat come through more. But with a roast like this, each slice only has the rub around the outer edge so don’t be bashful. Then prepare the grill for two zone or indirect grilling with an internal temperature of the grill around 275. For traditional grills that means coals or hot burners on one side and the meat on the other. In the case of my kamado grill, I would normally go with a circular plate setter in between the coals and the meat to deflect the heat around my tri tip, but I want to sear at the end so I put a half moon plate setter on one side, added a chunk of smoke wood and put the tri tip over the plate setter:

That is really rare. It’s perfect timing for the sear part of this recipe. I could move the steak over to the other side of the grill and get a nice sear, but I want to really blast it, so I took the grill grate off, removed the half moon plate setter and placed the steak roast inches above a blazing hot fire. FLAME ON!

And here’s another nice bit of flame porn just because I know you like that sort of thing:

Simply sear the smoked tri tip on both sides until there is a nice flavor crust or in this case about 3-4 minutes per side. One side is flat (the fatty side) and it gets better charing than the curved side. Here is the curved side after the sear:

And here is the flat side with much better charring:

Let the smoked tri tip rest for at least 10 minutes to let the juices, in an excited state from the heat, to calm down and redistribute throughout the meat.

Slice and serve:

And a bonus sliced, meatporn pic:

So this slice was only about a third of the way into the smoked tri tip. Slice at the middle and it will be more rare:

But what about the smoke ring. Here’s a slice from the narrow end which is pretty well done. I used this piece to show two things. First, when feeding a crowd, someone, invariably, wants theirs well done. Boom. Here’s the end. Second, check out that slammin’ smoke ring!

The steak is infused with a lovely smoky flavor on top of the caramelized proteins from the flame sear on top of the wonderful rub. Did I mention incredibly tender and juicy? And at the cost, if you’re trying to go the paleo route, the smoked tri tip is an outstanding option.

If you have any questions about this smoked tri tip, feel free to leave a comment below or shoot me an email.

I reshot the pictures included in this post and completely rewrote it so the write up matched the new pictures because my first time around the pics were horrendously bad. I’m not kidding. Scroll down past the printable recipe card for most of the pics and captions of the original post. I think I’ve come a long way since November of 2011 when the pictures below were taken. And as an added bonus, there’s a collage of the process at the very bottom.

Prepare the grill for two zone grilling with coals on one side and nothing on the other

Target temperature inside the grill is 275

For a kamado grill, place the plate setter between the coals and the tri tip

Put a chunk of smoke wood on the coals and the tri tip on the grill

Smoke for 60-90 minutes until the internal temperature of the tri tip gets to between 120-130

Then move the tri tip over to the side of the grill with the heat and sear on each side

Remove from the heat and allow to rest for at least 10 minutes

Slice and serve

Notes

If you would like a tri tip that is a little more well done, leave it on the side with no coals until it reaches 135-140 before searing to get meat that is medium.

3.5.3228

A typical tri tipOn the cutting boardThe other side reveals a thick layer, of tough fatYou could leave it on, but I need to eat healthierThat’s a knife!Fat trimmedThat silver skin will melt awayBrine IngredientsBrinedGrill prepped for two zone grillingFire!Looking good at 40 minutesStill rareNeeds more smokeTime to go to flavor townRestingSlicedThat is perfection to me

Scott Thomas

Scott Thomas, the Original Grillin’ Fool, was sent off to college with a suitcase and a grill where he overcooked, undercooked and burned every piece of meat he could find. After thousands of failures, and quite a few successes, nearly two decades later he started a website to show step by step, picture by picture, foolproof instructions on how to make great things out of doors so that others don’t have to repeat the mistakes he’s made on the grill.

26 comments

Hello Guys. I’ve used this cut of meat for several years. I discovered it from a friend of mine. And the method you use is just what I have been doing. I have also done it with out the sear and it still turns out great! Thanks for the site….you guys are on Fire…..lol. Very informative.

Good recipe. I make mine my own with some worcestershire, italian dressing and lemon juice. i have not needed to grill mine either. The picture potion of this recipe says to run lower than 220 deg. The directions at the bottom say 275 to 325 deg. I run mine 200 – 220 so I can get the longer cook and smoke time.

I learned about tri-tips when I was learning to butcher deer. Then I saw them at John’s Butcher Shoppee on Walton. I love rub with Santa Maria seasoning then cook it over medium coals for 30 mins. Such a change of pace and there are always left-overs. You guys have a great website!

It is hard to find around here but is becoming more and more available. I highly recommend getting to know your local butcher and asking for them. ORder a handful. You can always toss a couple in the freezer.

Oh yeah, the local butcher is the only place here in Chicago you can get Tri Tip. When we lived out in CA though, you could get it everywhere. I actually didn’t even know the cut existed until we moved out there.

I would “highly recommend” cooking the reverse method with Zebra (salt, pepper, and garlic)…….low and slow until internal hits @ 130 and then go to the high heat/radiant to sear never bringing above @ 134/135. Wrap and rest 10 minutes. OOOOH MAN!

Once you have the method down……..then experiment with add’l flavors and/or brine/marinade. Such a great cut of meat does not need any more than the basics.

I will be serving smoked tri tip at poker nite about 915 pm don’t want to babysit smoker . Can I smoker in mid afternoon 430 ish wrap in foil then wrap in towels put in cooler if I cook til 115 degrees will the temp get to 130 wrapped in towels